Congregation Israel of Springfield pays tribute to Myra and Dr. Aryeh Pirak as our Guests of Honor. It is a special pleasure for us all, since the Pirak family has served our shul community for decades, modeling the paramount importance of Jewish values in every sphere of life.
William z”l and Rachel Pirak, who moved with Aryeh to Springfield in 1968, were among the founding families of Congregation Israel.  Myra, a native of Brooklyn, married Aryeh in 1976, and returned with him to Springfield three years later, after Aryeh completed medical school.  During the years that followed, they raised five children—Sharon, Michelle, Jonathan, Alissa and Erica—while volunteering considerable time and talents to CIS and the Jewish Educational Center of Elizabeth, where all of their children were educated.  Aryeh served as the shul’s president and as a JEC trustee, while Myra was a Sisterhood trustee and vice president for membership, as well as the shul’s gemilas chesed shiva meals coordinator.  For many years they served together as chairpeople of NCSY, and organized the annual Simchat Torah kiddushim.

Aryeh and Myra are extremely gratified by the growth of CIS, and by the warmth, caring and intimacy that continue to distinguish our community. They also derive tremendous nachas from their family’s growing involvement in our shul: first, Sharon and her husband Eytan Konigsberg moved to Springfield with their family; then Michelle and her husband Eytan Burstein moved here with their family; and then Jonathan married fellow shul member Jordana Tarlowe.  At present, four generations of Piraks enrich our community, including matriarchs Rachel Pirak and Betty Drang, and eight grandchildren.  May they all continue to go from strength to strength.

For more than ten years, Andrew and Lori Nusbaum have been a source of assistance, advice and inspiration for the young couples and families who have flocked to Congregation Israel of Springfield.

 

Andrew, the oldest of nine children, grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ, where his parents, Jacquelyn and Charles Nusbaum, still live.  Andrew graduated from Torah Academy of Greater Philadelphia before earning a BA in Political Science from Rutgers University in 2000 and a JD from Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh.  He began his career as an attorney for the New Jersey Law Guardian office in 2005, working in child welfare litigation, and for many years taught Sunday

Hebrew school as well.

 

Lori, the younger of two sisters, has lived in Springfield since she was a child. Her mother, Tova Silberman, still lives in town; her father, Henry Silberman z”l, passed away in 2010.  Lori graduated from Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union (now known as Golda Och Academy) in West Orange before earning a BA in Journalism and Mass Media and Hebraic Studies from Rutgers University.  Having worked previously for The New Jersey Jewish News, she is currently an assistant teacher at Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy during the school year, and a camp counselor at the YM-YWHA of Union County in the summer.

 

Andrew and Lori met through the Rutgers University Hillel in January, 1998.  Later that year, Andrew began visiting Lori and her family for Shabbos, and attending services at Congregation Israel of Springfield—and after their marriage five years later, they decided to settle here.  One of only three “young couples,” they became active in the shul immediately, and have become even more involved in the years since.  From 2010 until 2015, Andrew served as the chairperson for the Youth Committee, and continues to serve as a member; he is also a longtime member of the Board of Trustees, a member of the Security Committee, and a past scoutmaster for the shul’s Boy Scout troop.  A longtime Sisterhood Board member, Lori was heavily involved in the Early Childhood Program for seven years as a parent, chairperson, volunteer and teacher, and served on the shul’s long-range planning committee.

 

Lori and Andrew credit their strong Jewish identity and dedication to chesed to a long line of relatives who were pillars of their communities, in Rochester, NY; Wilkes-Barre, PA; and Elizabeth and Union, NJ.  They derive enormous satisfaction from giving back to friends and neighbors, and investing their time and energies in helping the shul blossom and grow.  While they have many educational, professional, and communal accomplishments, their greatest source of pride is undoubtedly their three children: Zevi, 10; Esti, 6; and Isaac, 2.  On this joyous occasion, they wish to thank Rabbi Chaim and Lea Marcus, and all of their friends and family, for their love and support. 

Admired and respected by all for his dedication to the minyan and the shul community, Adam Sheps has recognized the importance of religious life since childhood; his earliest and most cherished childhood memories are of the hours spent sitting among his four grandparents during High Holiday services in Linden, where both of his parents grew up. A native of Elizabeth, he was raised in Connecticut, where his parents were active members of the B’nai Shalom Synagogue in Waterbury, and where Adam attended Hebrew school and became a Bar Mitzvah.  Throughout his youth, he observed his parents’ involvement in the numerous activities of their synagogue, and the tremendous sacrifices they made to ensure the continuity and engagement of their community, as well as his spiritual development.  His strong Jewish identity was further reinforced by his attendance and later employment at summer camps and programming sponsored by USY (where he was fortunate to meet his wife, Rachel Lohr, at age 16), the JCC and NCSY.

Adam’s spiritual growth continued as an undergraduate at Brandeis University, where he was a leader of Aish Ha’Torah’s campus programming and president of the Brandeis Orthodox Organization. Rather than continuing straight to law school at the University of Connecticut, he took a year to focus on an older legal code, studying at Yeshivat Hamivtar in Israel.  Returning stateside, he remained focused on his faith throughout the rigors of law school.  An active member of Beth David Synagogue in West Hartford, Connecticut, he also served as the town’s NCSY advisor and taught Hebrew school.

As the saying goes, while you can take the boy out of Jersey, you can’t take the Jersey out of the boy—so it is not surprising that just days after their marriage, he and Rachel came to Springfield and the CIS community in order to join a warm, welcoming community in which to live, raise a family, and continue their spiritual growth.  Adam became an active member of the daily minyan and immediately joined many shul committees. As a Board Trustee, chair of the Kiddush committee or a part of the Membership committee, he continues to seek out ways to contribute and help shape the community.

Both Rachel and Adam learned from their parents the paramount significance of connection to a synagogue and community. Together, they strive to model the same values for their daughter Hannah, who gleefully joins her father at minyan almost every morning. Adam is grateful for the wonderful home he and his family have found at CIS, and he is eager to engage others in the vibrant shul community that has welcomed his family so warmly.

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